Review of iZombie

This review is based on the pilot episode of "Lethal Weapon" which aired 9/27/16 First off, it should be noted I have never seen the movie. It was a little before my time, and I was raised going to the movie theater as opposed to buying VHS and watching them at home, so I've really seen nothing from before 1993 save Jaws and Star Wars. Okay, now that thats out of the way. Going on, I was not expecting much from this show at all. The trailer looked like it left a lot to be desired, namely, a premise, and my dad's description of the movie as "Just a buddy cop movie" didn't make me very excited. I was beyond pleasantly surprised. Lethal Weapon, in spite of being a remake of a movie series is very fresh for television. It's about an older cop who has recently recovered from hearty surgery and needs to keep his heart rate down, and a cop whose wife and daughter were killed and who wants to die himself to be with them. One who wants to live, and plays it safe, and one who wants to die, and is reckless and crazy. Both are good detectives. So there is a premise, but its one that would only work with likeable characters who we want to learn more about; and I can say that after seeing the pilot, both characters are indeed very likable, and I would like to learn more about them. The pilot was full of action, and not your typical run of the mill shootouts, but calculated decisions, high-speed chases, explosions, and things that took some creativity to write up. The dialogue was smart, but not overly witty, and they kept the minor characters such as the lead cops family to a minimum, so as not to bore us with superfluous soap opera scenes. Overall, it was an extremely strong pilot, and I'd highly recommend it. 4.5 stars.

This review is based on the Pilot episode which aired 3/31/2016. Rush Hour is a 60 minute primetime Drama on CBS based on the classic 90s Buddy-cop franchise by the same name starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. The show, stars Jon Foo reprising Chan's character Lee, and Justin Hires as Tucker's Carter. The show is a re-imagining of the movies and as such, is based on a premise and its characters rather than a plot. So clearly, the show will be procedural and focus on the chemistry between the characters and the humorous situations they encounter. The pilot felt a lot like the movie with Ice Cube and Kevin Hart, Ride Along. It wasn't bad, but you wouldn't go to theaters to see it. Rush Hour the movie was phenomenal because the jokes were carefully written, very funny, and the action was extremely well choreographed and the stakes, high. As a TV show, all of that is minimized for the small screen. It becomes more of a Beverly Hills Cop/Ride Along rather than the super epic Rush Hour. Justin Hires is extremely grating. He's sort of like Kevin Hart, without the high-pitched voice, or the funny. He's just straight up annoying. That being said, the writing wasn't bad. His wise-cracks were very Carter-esque and funny, he just didn't deliver them well. Foo as Lee was pretty spot-on. Overall, I'd definitely give the show more time to polish its act and discover that sweet spot. I think it has the potential to be the next Castle if the cases stay smart and the banter between them just keeps on improving. Otherwise, it could go the route of The Player, which was a great show, but got canceled really quickly.